The Path the Wind May Take
by Flutist Girl
Summary: Komali POV: I remember the look in her eyes, it was like she didn’t even know herself anymore. The seeds of Din had already been planted in her young heart and had I known this…


A/N: Here is the most eccentric work that I've actually revealed to anyone since third grade. You'll have to forgive me; the idea was too good to pass up. Inspired by and based on the Windwaker, which I _**did not**_ create (infinite thanks to Nintendo for that), and my (not so little anymore) brother, to whom this book is dedicated.

The Path the Wind May Take

Greetings, whoever you may be. I trust that I made no mistake by entrusting this document into your hands.

I am Komali, prince of the Rito tribe. I know not whether your world still sees us flying the airways, although I hope this is the case. As it is, my tribe is dying. Even my father knows it, but can do nothing.

Nestled safely within the sheltering walls of Dragon Roost Isle is my home. Once atop the mountain sat a deity we all revered, for it was on him that our lifestyle was based. His name was Valoo, the great dragon for whom this small island is named. When every youngling reached the age of ten they ventured to the top of the mountain, seeking their gift from Valoo…a scale worth more than the world in the heart of every child.

It was this scale that allowed the younglings to sprout wings over the course of five years, and eventually fly, delivering mail and messages and goods. Their twentieth birthday was one of celebration and great joy, for as soon as the first feather appeared on their arm they were said to be grown into adulthood, and they inherited all the rights that came with it.

My beloved mentor was the reason of celebration on that day. Dressed in the finest crimson silk, with tears of joy in her ruby eyes, she sat squirming with excitement next to my father, the king. I will never forget the look in her eyes as for the first time she saw the world in a new way…a way centered on the wind's breath. I remember screaming her name over and over, only to have my tiny voice drowned out in the song of others.

But she always did have ears keener than the rest. After a while she stood, as if to speak, and the crowd silenced. She extended a hand to me, bruised from the brutal journey to the mountaintop, and I took it and threw myself into her arms. "Medli," I whispered, "you're a grownup now…does that mean you have to stop playing with me?"

She embraced me. "Only five years until you get a scale of your own, little Komali. Until then, I swear this to you…I will be your wings, your light, and your guardian."

I hugged her, knowing this was the truth. My mother was gone one day, and Medli told me that she had become one with the stars…I knew nothing of death. Since that day, Medli had been my foster mother. When she sang to me, I heard my mother's voice and hers collide in heavenly harmony. Although I knew that she would never replace my mother, she held a place of her own in my heart.

Those five years were both wonderful and terrible, during which Medli was my indispensable lifeline. I developed a passion for the mysterious skies and envy of those who had wings and could fly away from their troubles. Medli was compassionate. She let me stroke her angelic white feathers as she encouraged me to go on.

Here is my plight.

The very day after Medli was embraced into the arms of the elders, we packed for the journey…my journey. I was so jumpy that Medli had to literally restrain me to keep from startling the horses. I could not believe that I would get my scale. When I arrived home, I would drill a hole in it and hand it on a chain of gold around my neck, as was customary.

Medli was calm at first, but soon fussed over me like a hen over her chick. She combed my rebellious hair over and over, wanting it to look just right for Valoo. "After all," she insisted, "you're not just any youngling. You are a prince of the most noble tribe on the Great Sea!"

I let her fuss and fret over petty things like my hair and tunic, but inside I was bursting with a sense of the wind. I remember vividly a northbound breeze caressing my closed eyes, whispering of freedom and adventure. Never had I ever dreamed that the same breeze could cause me so much pain.

My father intercepted the party about halfway up the slope, ordering me back home. I was infuriated. My father was depriving me of my scale, my birthright! I felt as if my body was aflame, but he gestured toward the sky, and that internal fire turned to ice.

I saw the faint outline of the majestic Valoo, sitting atop the mountain. But this was not the calm and gentle deity I once knew. He was thrashing, howling, refusing to be consoled by the brave Rito that had flown to calm him. There was a burst of flame, and I saw the Rito fall into the sea, never to emerge.

I was shocked. Valoo granted us life! He gave us our wings! He treated us as if we were his own hatchlings and now he had killed one of them!

Inexperienced as she was, Medli grabbed me in her arms and flew, struggling to support my added weight. Eventually, the breeze shifted in her favor and the wind beneath her wings strengthened her and lightened her load. She did not stop flying, never looking back until I was safe on the western shore of the isle. I worried for my father who was still on the mountain, but he returned shortly, two others were not so lucky.

So it began. For five long, agonizing years I could only watch as my beloved Medli spread her wings to the sky, practicing for airborne combat. Her inexperienced lunges and strokes were almost comical, but I sensed a grace waiting to emerge. Others did as she did, and I watched my once peace loving race become a league of lethal warriors. I did not understand this until I was attacked in my sleep.

It was a Moblin, and though slow and unintelligent, they were formidable foes because of their raw strength. I was roughly jerked from my bed and gagged with the Moblin's massive hand. I remember thinking all was lost, remembering vividly a memory of Medli dancing before my eyes before I blacked out.

I woke up in my own bed, Medli sitting beside me, worried sick. She told me what had happened, and that other younglings had been attacked in a similar manner. She was not the one to tell me, but she was the one who had sensed something amiss and fought my captor, taking several blows to her arms.

I was aghast. Next time I saw her arms, bandaged though they were, I knew she would never fly again. I could not bear the thought that I had caused this, and sent her away every time she tried to console me.

Thankfully, her arms healed enough to allow minimal flight. I wanted to cry when I saw how little she could do now. I wanted her to carry me away on the wind again, just to show me that she was not deemed flightless by fate. Eventually she heard my silent request and did it, but at the expense of her strength for three days. I never asked her again, although it lingered in my heart forever.

It was during this time that my grandmother passed away. She was the great Valoo's attendant, unsurpassed by any other. Medli had been her apprentice, and seemed to take it hardest, as now the responsibilities she once carried lay on her shoulders, and what a burden that was with Valoo in this state.

From my grandmother, I received a treasure shortly before she died. She told me that it was called Din's Pearl, and it was said to be carved from the legendary Goron's Ruby. I understood nothing of this, but I treasured it dearly.

So it went, day after day I sat sulking in my room, stroking the soft red pearl. It seemed to make my troubles a little less unbearable. But that was a power that weakened as my hopelessness and despair grew.

For years I sat, barely eating, barely leaving my room. Medli came every now and then, but I refused her comfort. If I knew how much my rejection hurt her I would not have done it, but I was blind to everyone except myself.

One day I heard voices emanating from my pearl and listened anxiously. I had learned that if there were something important, the pearl would allow me to listen.

I gazed into its swirling ruby depths and allowed my mind to be overwhelmed by the power it possessed. I heard Medli…

"Please, sir, he means you no harm. I know…but you must try to understand. Please share your courage with him!"

I strained my ears for more, but that was all it gave me. A minute later I settled down and lay on my bed, resting the pearl on my stomach and rotating it in the palms of my hands.

Then came a knock on the door. I was used to this and screamed at the person to go away…assuming it was Medli.

It wasn't. And this person was much more persistent, eventually letting himself in.

I was shocked, as I had never seen this boy before. He was a young man possibly in his early twenties or late teens. He was dressed in an almost outlandish green, carrying a sword and shield on his back. He had never seen me before, but his eyes held a deep concern…for me, I realized with shock.

"Greetings, my prince," the boy said bowing. "I have heard of your dilemma, and I wish to help you. My name is Link of Outset Isle."

"What do you know?" I snapped back. "You're not the one who's been deprived of his whole life!"

The boy's eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't quite name. What was it? Fear? Anger? Desperation?

He got a hold of himself. "My fate is not unlike yours, Prince Komali."

I stared at him relentlessly, but in the end his emerald eyes forced me to retreat. He sat down in a chair and looked at me sympathetically. "I was a boy like you once. I even had someone that I loved…very much."

"Like my Medli?" I asked, somewhat intrigued. "But you speak in past tense, Link."

I saw pain register in his eyes. "She met fate…as did I."

"And you think that whatever…fate…handed you even scratches the surface of my trials?! I…you don't know what loss is! Get out!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs, and he flinched as if I had struck him. He stood calmly, leaving words that I will never forget.

"Din's pearl, does it speak to you willingly?"

I fell back as he shut the door. I wanted to reject those words so badly, but my heart was a sponge soaking it all up in all its bitter coldness.

It did, he knew it and I knew it. That meant…was I chosen to hold the pearl? Did my grandmother give it to me out of more than inheritance?

I held it against my chest, wanting Din to reach out and take my arms, giving me wings to fly away.

I looked again into my pearl, seeing Medli…

"If only I had been stronger…but if I…if something happens to me…take care of Komali. Tell him…tell him that I couldn't have loved my own son more."

I wondered what she was doing, but eventually my own selfishness blinded me, telling me that it was nothing.

The next day I heard that she was gone, and I can honestly say that I felt like dying right there on the spot. They said she had gone to the shrine, to save me…to give me a chance at my wings. And the last thing she said was "If only I had been stronger."

I went in my room, literally sick to my stomach. I didn't eat and hardly slept. I was only vaguely awake when I heard my father's voice.

"Son, get up."

I groaned, but my father was not taking that excuse again. He ripped off the quilt on top of me, exposing my body to the frigid night air.

"Medli has been found."

That got me up, really fast too. "Wha-? Where is she? Is she all right? Is she…?" I saw the grim look on my father's face. "She isn't…is she?"

"No, Medli is not among the dead." He must have seen the relief on my face because he continued. "It is the boy I'm worried about."

"Link?" I asked, suddenly ashamed of the way I'd treated him.

"Did it ever occur to you that he would risk his life to get you your wings? Did you ever think that he might die trying?"

I blushed, feeling a dread of what he was going to say next. "I am not here to chide you. I only bring news that the cause of Valoo's anger has been found. He has some sort of monster attacking his tail…you know how it hangs down into the room below. Anyway, Medli returned to tell us while Link has gone to fight the creature in single combat."

"But…but why?" I asked as my father turned to leave. "Why did he even care what happened to us? He's not a Rito."

My father turned and smiled at me. "That's what a hero does."

I was stunned. That little skinny boy, a hero? I remember thinking that the boy's courage outweighed his head. I asked for Medli to come in.

An hour later, she did. There was not a scratch on her, a fact that I was very proud of. She sat on my bed and waited patiently for me to speak first.

"I'm so sorry Medli." I hung my head, wishing that she would scream at me for my carelessness. Instead, she laughed and embraced me with wings that could have been an angel's.

"I knew your spirit still lived somewhere in that stubborn body, my prince."

I pulled myself free from her arms after several minutes. "Is he really fighting that monster?"

"Gohma," Medli clarified. "Link is strong, do not fear for him." But I saw it…I saw true fear in her eyes eating away at her heart.

"Medli," I said, flopping onto my stomach. "Tell me what happened in the shrine."

She began, belittling her part modestly. From what I gathered, Boblokins had kidnapped her shortly after she heard of Valoo's problem. Link had come then, following her even though she had not asked for assistance, freeing her and telling her to spread the word of her discovery.

"I left him with my grappling hook, I think it may be of use to him in the cavern. But now, we must wait for his return, and then he'll tell you it all in detail."

I remember the look in her eyes; it was like she didn't even know herself anymore. The seeds of Din had already been planted in her young heart…had I known this…

Link did come back. Soaked with sweat, tears, and blood, he knelt before me, unsheathing his stained crimson sword and plunged it in the ground at my feet. "It is done." Then he fainted. This was the first, but not the last, case I would ever see of heat stroke.

He remained unconscious for three days, but then he was cared for like a king at my command. I felt bad for demeaning him like that when he saved my entire race. I couldn't help but wonder what happened to that girl he had spoken of.

He was in fever most of the time, tossing and turning and moaning for Zelda, whoever she was. He came out of it on the third day and was able to sleep peacefully.

Sometime in the night he awoke and wandered. I saw him and Medli, who had also been unable to sleep, were walking in the moonlight, Medli cooing over the golden feather he had found. I saw him place it in her hand, and thus gave up the only thing of value he owned. Perhaps this one had the heart of a hero.

I arranged a feast, for surely a vagabond didn't eat well, even if he was so noble as Link truly was. Medli spent a long time in front of the mirror in a type of nervousness that I had never seen before. She was dressed in a stunning white gown inlaid with dusted rubies and flecks of gold. Every strand of her hair had been carefully and painstakingly curled, folded, and pinned into the exact place she willed it to. Her cheeks were flushed, like the rubies, making her eyes shimmer even more.

I had pinned emerald pendants on my wings and was garbed in green. I wanted to wear the same colors of the man who saved my race. Medli lead me as my mother would have, but her nervousness made her clumsy and lightheaded.

Link was there, conversing with my father. Medli, Link, my father, and I were to be the only guests here. Dinner was laid out, and then the servants left.

Medli approached Link first, patiently waiting for his to finish her conversation before making the smallest and sweetest of interruptions. Link smiled and took her hand. "My Lady Medli." His lips brushed her fingertips, making Medli's cheeks crimson.

I requested to sit next to Link, and he was kind enough to grace me with his presence during dinner. It was truly astounding, he had just saved my race and yet he showed no signs of bragging…no want for a reward.

Is this what a hero is? I wondered.

Medli flitted about Link like a hummingbird to a flower, and Link played along gladly. I'm surprised she ate anything at all; she did so much flirting!

My father left, leaving the responsibility of thanking Link to me. I was angry with him for leaving me to express my heart to this…hero. What was I supposed to say?

"Link," I began shakily. "I want to…what I mean to say is…" I sighed in exasperation. "I can't say what is in my heart. I was mean to you; I made you think of that one you loved. I…didn't…think…"

He stood. "No one did. No one, even my own heart knew I was destined for this. I was meant…maybe _born _to be an outcast. It is my fate." He smiled kindly down at me. "I can understand how you were feeling. There is nothing you need to regret."

"Then can I help you in any way?"

"No," he replied quickly. "There is nothing."

But there was, he knew it and I knew it. I excused myself politely and stuck around only long enough to see Medli and Link embrace. Smiling to myself, I ran to my room.

I stuck my hand under my pillow and grasped that ruby sphere in my hands. This time it seemed to glow with radiance.

I hid it behind my back and sidled into Link's presence once again. "Link, Medli," I said softly.

Both Link and Medli looked my way. "Yes?" they said in unison.

I smiled as best I could. "Link, I want you to have my pearl." I extended my arms and held out my most precious possession. "You are a hero…and when I grow up, I'm going to be just like you!"

Link smiled, his eyes laughing. "Oh Komali, your selflessness will save so many lives."

He told me everything then. He told me that three pearls lay scattered about the Great Sea and that they would be needed to overthrow the monster that, even as we spoke, was carrying maidens off to an unknown fate. He spoke softly of his sister, how he had seen her, and then the demon that had kidnapped her. I saw rage then…far deeper than the anger I felt at having lost my wings.

I saw the pearl flicker in his hands at his story, and then a voice I had longed to hear for so long…

Medli's eyes widened, taking in everything that the great Valoo was saying, when her eyes opened, they were wet with glistening tears. "He says that he wishes to thank you Link…" 

Link nodded his head as if it were nothing.

"…But Komali…for you, he gives…"

Medli laid her hands on my arms ever so gently and then closed her eyes.

"The finest wings, for the noblest of princes."

I remember light, and then my arms seemed heavier. With surprise, I found my arms adorned with feathers, soft as a newborn chick's. I stroked them, hardly daring to believe it. "I…can I really?"

Link pulled a baton from his tunic and raised it, bringing it down and left and right. I felt the breeze respond, and it writhed between my feathers as if it were a living creature. It was so strong that I could no longer hold my wings at my side. I let my entire body go limp and the wind let me soar.

From that day on you could always find me in the skies. I had no need for the ground or my home except to eat and catch an occasional nap. Medli would fly for a while with me, but her abilities were limited, and she soon left me to discover the world on my own.

It was on one such day that I was circling the mountain (to Valoo's amusement) that I saw Link again. After he had left I assumed that I'd never see him again, but I was overjoyed to see that familiar green garb on a ledge of the mountain.

I was about to swoop down and say hello but I caught sight of Medli, looking deeply troubled.

"Leave them be," Valoo whispered, and though I wanted to disobey, I subjected myself to the will of my deity.

I saw Medli collapse into Link's arms and that set me off, but this time Valoo's command was stronger.

"Leave her!" he nearly roared. "You cannot comprehend this!"

Indeed I could not. Though it took all of my will power, I kept my distance. Soon she awakened, and at a distance I saw a new Medli. This woman was not my guardian I once knew.

I saw her turn to Link and she whispered something quietly to him. She turned and made eye contact with me, then returned to Link with more urgency. I saw them walk together into her shelter, only to emerge a few moments later with only her harp and a scroll in her hand.

"Do not follow," Valoo commanded once again.

I watched, confused as the pair walked away into a small red boat with the head of a lion like figure on the front and then sailed away.

_South,_ I noted. _They're going south._

That was the last I ever saw of Medli, leaving nothing for me but the scroll she had mailed moments before her departure.

"I'm only doing this because I have to, Komali. Please forgive me. –Medli"

I was patient for two days and that was all. I eventually packed all the supplies I would need for a week onto my back and flew south.

"Stay here," Valoo commanded, not for the first time.

"Medli is gone!" I yelled, for a moment becoming the indignant child I once was. "I'm going to find her!"

"No, Komali, stay here. Enjoy the peace and let Medli choose on her own."

"Then at least tell me where she is!"

No answer. I expected as much.

"I'm going now."

Valoo called me but his call weakened with the distance.

I flew for days over the endless ocean, headed due south. I looked for anything, but so far only encountered a few islands, nothing of significance. It was on the sixth day that I ran out of supplies, something I'm not sure was an accident, and was forced to land on an island Stonehead Island.

I landed to find a desert, surrounded by rocks that might have once acted as battlements. I remember reading about a giant statue that blocked a labyrinth, but the disturbing thing was that I found it…shattered into a million pieces.

I examined the surroundings warily, but found nothing edible. I was down to my last meal and I ate it to sate the monster in my stomach. Seeing no other choice, I entered the exposed cavern in search of supplies.

I wasn't really sure what to expect, but what I didn't expect was to see a massive catacomb stretching ever downward until I was sure it reached the ocean floor. The place was a massive monument filled with memories that, perhaps, should not have been remembered. I encountered many rooms with arcane symbols that I did not understand. One was a blue painting on the floor of a lyre…

Medli's lyre. I was sure of it.

I continued downward until I reached a massive door. At the foot of the door were four golden chains, each about as thick as my wrist, and a lock that was taller than I was. I was glad that someone who had passed before me had found the key that opened the door.

I walked in and continued down a hallway to hear the soft sound of a lyre. As my sight cleared, I saw Link, exhausted and wounded, but he stood with a conductor's baton in his hand, leading the musician in a song that seemed oddly familiar. A majestic sword had been plunged into the floor in a gray area surrounded by three golden triangles that were joined at the corners.

And the musician was my Medli.

I stood in stunned silence as the golden triangles glowed. I felt a power with such intensity as I had never felt before enter that blade, and I knew that it was Medli pouring her very essence into that sword.

It was over all too soon. The hilt of the sword widened, perhaps a sign of its former glory. It was only then that I dared to speak.

"Medli…?"

She whirled around and swooned. "Oh Komali!"

Link ran over to where he had heard me, pulling me out of the sight of Medli, who was now crying freely.

"What's…what's she doing here?" I asked.

Link sighed. "Get out of here. I will explain everything outside."

"But I want to see…"

He looked at me so strongly that I dared not disobey. I turned away and I heard Medli speaking with Link.

"Was it him, Link?"

"…Yes."

I sat outside by the shoreline for quite a while before I heard him approaching. I didn't know what to say so I waited for him to speak.

"What do you know of the sages, Komali?"

I wasn't expecting this. "Well, they're representatives of certain elements."

"And?" Link prodded.

"They're supposed to hold some kind of powers. That's all I know."

Link sat down beside me. "What you have told me is true. But there is more."

"Long ago, the original seven sages locked up an ancient monster. These were light, forest, fire, water, spirit, and shadow along with the Princess of Hyrule, who acted as Sage of the Triforce."

"However, about three hundred years ago, about a century after the originals, two more sages were chosen. Their duty was different. They prayed constantly to keep the power of the Master Sword flowing. Their names were Laruto and Fado."

"But then, for some reason, the seal broke. The fiend's main grudge was against the hero who brought him down, so he bent himself on destroying the weapon he wielded."

"The Master Sword," I said, putting the pieces together. "But the sages would have to be…"

"Murdered," Link said gravely. "That is exactly what happened. Jalhalla took the life of the Sage of Earth and Molgera killed the Sage of Wind."

"So, the only weapon that could defeat him lost its power?"

"Correct."

"Is that the Master Sword then?" I gestured to the sword on his back.

He unsheathed his weapon and held it gingerly out before me. "The very same."

"I fought with that monster of old, his name was Ganondorf. Once he might have been a man, but he has been warped until he is unrecognizable as a human even though he holds the form of one. He was the one who kidnapped my sister."

I perked up my ears, anxious to hear about the hero's life.

"The first move Ganondorf has always made was against the Princess, and that is what he did here. He kidnapped all the girls with the ears of a Hylian and any magical abilities at all. My sister was actually mistaken for a girl named Tetra who had been dropped on my isle by the bird sent to kidnap her. I suppose now…it was a good thing."

"It was a _good_ thing your sister got kidnapped?" I asked appalled.

Link shook his head. "No, you misunderstood me. The girl Tetra turned out to be the last link in the royal bloodline. Had Ganondorf gotten his hands on her…"

I understood now. "But you couldn't defeat him, your sword lost its powers."

"Yes, I lost, and if it weren't for Valoo both the princess and I would be dead."

"Zelda?" I asked. "Is her name Zelda?"

He eyed me cautiously. "Yes. How did you know?"

"When you were wounded you were calling for her."

"Oh," he whispered, almost inaudibly. "That."

"I won't even ask," I said.

He chuckled. "Thanks for the consideration."

"But Medli…" I trailed off, not sure I wanted to hear it but knowing I needed to.

Link closed his eyes for a long time. "A sage…the Sage of Earth."

I sat there stunned. I felt like it was something I had known for a long time but had not recognized, like a knothole in a favorite tree. I came prepared to find anything but this.

"Komali."

I looked up, for the first time realizing that I had been silent with my head bowed for several minutes.

"What are you thinking?"

I stood and walked a few feet to the shoreline. I saw a rock out of the corner of my eye and it was clutched in my fingers in an impulsive action that I could not control. I flung it as hard as I could into the sea and let out a cry with so many emotions mixed that it was impossible to distinguish one from the other.

Link had not moved until I sat down again, my energy spent. He then sat down beside me and repeated the question, "What are you thinking?"

"That I'm never going to see her again."

He sighed so deeply that I feared his heart would be spent in the process. "When she first awakened, you were the first person on her mind. She saw you in flight and she said, 'I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a mother,' I knew that the only reason she would go with me was _because _of you."

"I don't…understand."

"When I told her that all of Hyrule depended on her she didn't understand. When I said that she would probably have to leave forever, it about killed her. You were right there, in front of her, and I was asking her to give up the thing she valued most for a dangerous and uncertain future."

"But Laruto, the last Sage of Earth, told…nay, _showed_ her what would happen to you and to Hyrule if she refused."

Link stood and stared out into the setting sun for a long time. "Go inside, I think Medli will want to see you one last time."

What Link had told me was just barely sinking in. My Medli, a sage, bound to this shrine behind me for the rest of her life.

And what would become of me?

I felt a soft hand on my shoulder, and I turned. I saw those crimson eyes that I knew so well, filled with tears even though there was a smile on her lips. "Komali," she said softly.

But that melodic voice wasn't my Medli's. Before me stood the Sage of Earth, and I knew that my carefree friend was no more.

There's a little more coming, but not too much! Please leave a review!


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